Well, we had our longest drive of our marriage tour thus far. It wasn't too bad, though. Trenton to Annapolis is only a couple of hours. Along the way we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at a nice little restaurant in Pennsylvania. Being a native of Buffalo, I had a Buffalo Chicken Wrap but everyone else was insisting on getting Cheese Steak this or Cheese Steak that. Not for me.

Anyway, I have been monitoring our opponents response to their behavior in Providence the other day and saw pretty strong split in opinion.

Some praise the radical homosexual activists who stormed our podium and yelled in the faces of our speakers, who rattled water bottles filled with little stones, who engaged in lengthly tongue kissing in front of a crowd of parents and their young children, who made sexually suggestive gestures with their hands (again in front of a crowd of parents and their young children), who targeted those same very children with their hateful rhetoric, among other things.

And then there were some who saw the error in what the counter-protesters did in Providence. It was good to see that at least some of our opponents have common sense and reason and were able to see even when those on their own side had made a mistake and I would like to take the time to applaud such integrity. Of course, I am specifically referring to this blog entry from the Box Turtle Bulletin.

Now of course there is going to be differences of opinion not only between opposing sides of an issue but also amongst those of the same side. This happens all the time and for practically every politically divisive issue. However, I would like to draw to your attention the extent to which those those who actually support what happened in Providence went in response to BTB's blog post.

In this first image, which may or may not still be viewable on the aforementioned blog entry, you can see a perfect example of how quickly the most radical of the homosexual agenda, the ones who support the protesters actions in Providence, turn on one of their own the moment he doesn't stay on message.

Look at first post from Wendy. First off all, she is incorrect about the man speaking in tongues. That was not Brian Brown and someone corrected her on that further down in the comments.

But let's look at what she wrote after that. "I find your article severely more damaging than a couple of protesters...". So here she recogizes the damage caused by the radical protesters. Here's where she goes too far, just like those in Providence did.

"Take this [expletive] down and write a supportive piece and stow the caninbalization and sell out." Here she is scolding one of her own because he had the audacity to tell the truth, the audacity to admit a mistake. She turned on him. According to who was once a 'fan', the author of that article is a sell-out. Nice. Tolerant.

Wendy continues. "I'm normally a devote fan but this is a terrible anti-community piece." So does this Wendy girl want to hear only one-sided stories? Is she only interested in pro-LGBT propaganda? Is she really saying that it woud be better if the writer put a spin on everything to paint the LGBT community in only positive light?

OK, so I guess the writer's name is Jim Burroway. Well, props to you Jim for writing this article and for keeping it posted after pressure to remove it and replace it with something less-truthful but more positive for 'the community'.

So even though Mr. Burroway has some integrity, as you can see in his response to Wendy, reading through his response demonstrates the rational side of the divide in 'the community' over what happened in Providence.

Mr. Burroway comes right out and says what the protesters did in Providence was stupid. I was there and I am for the other side, as you all know, and even I didn't use such strong language to describe their actions. Not that I object to his choice of words.

Mr. Burroway says something about the fact that principles matter. I agree. What I do everyday is stand for the principle that marriage is between a man and a woman because it is what is best for society, best for families, best for children, best for everyone as a whole. Now I realize that this causes problems for 'the community' which seek fair and equal treatment. This too, is a principle for which we should all stand for.

When it comes to fair and equal treatment of homosexuals, I am going to clearly state that I and the National Organization for Marriage and every other rational person believes in the fair and equal treatment of all people. This was one of the points Brian Brown emphasized during our rally in Manchester, NH.

Let's clarify. There are some benefits and protections afforded to married couples which same-sex couples can not obtain while same-sex marriage remains illegal.

The solution to this is not the redefiniton of marriage, not the changing of family structures but the legislation of due rights for this 'community'. There are rights and protections same-sex couples ought to have - fair and equal treatement - but we don't have to redefine marriage in order for them to obtain them.

So back on track. Here, AdrianT calls "babyish" and "infantile" what the protesters did in Providence. He even calls Wendy out on her statements and her speaking for the LGBT 'community'.

Well good for you AdrianT.

I am honestly impressed with the overall concensus from your side of this issue, from 'the community', that what your friends and allies did in Providence was inappropriate. I am glad to see that both of us are able to draw the same conclusions on this matter and find something to agree on.

But that doesn't change the fact that there are members of your 'community' who condone and were excited by what happened in Providence. Unfortunately, I believe we will see more of that type of behavior during the rest of the Summer Marriage Tour.

I've already seen some homosexual activists vowing to come out to protest our rally in Annapolis later today. It's 1AM so I am referring to the Annapolis rally as today for that reason. I still have yet to go to bed and wake up on the day of the Annapolis rally.

We'll have to see if reason and respect win out as it did in New Jersey today. Garden State Equality did a good job at keeping their members at bay and away from our rally in front of the Statehouse in Trenton today.

We were expecting problems but were relieved when we came across a message from GSE President telling their members not to harrass us. They obviously did not want to see a repeat of Providence.

This picture shows how bold GSE's members were willing to go during our rally.

Yet on the other hand that just further demonstrates the divide on the issue, the difference in opinion on strategy and tactics. I am thrilled to see that the majority of that 'community' is standing with people like myself and the National Organization for Marriage in opposition to the kind of behavior we witnessed in Providence.

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If no one had spoken out about what they did, this article would be about how we're not condemning their actions. There's always a spin you can put on something in order to make yourself look good (or the other side bad, as the case may be.)

Brian, all of what they are doing can be found in 2 Chronicles 20:15-22. They look like invading armies but when they rush to attack us and our institution of marriage, they will fight with themselves to destroy each other while we stand by to watch it.

No, Mormonism is just absurd revisionism. I accept their right to have their own religion but I do not see John Smith as some kind of prophet. You get a gold star for trying. I routinely tell Mormons, who come to my house, that I was put on this earth to correct the wrongs in the Book of Mormon after receiving a dream the night before.

It entertains me for about 10 minutes and I just close the door after one of the two Mormons has to control the fanatical one.

ROME – On Good Friday, two days before Easter, a prayer titled “Let us Pray for the Conversion of the Jews” was recited in Latin by traditionalist Catholic congregations in Italy, plus 16 sections of the Society of Saint Pius.

"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.

The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.

This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the "servant of servants;" and they will be, until that curse is removed."

Brigham Young-President and second 'Prophet' of the Mormon Church, 1844-1877

I think you're lucky you got off so light. Look at how they young they are. You want to diminish their world and deny their rights as American citizens. We are allowed to disagree. We always have. We are not some monolithic group. Gay men and women are everywhere in our society doing all kinds of work in all kinds of places. Some of us are Republicans, some are Democrats, some are anarchists, some are bankers, some are artists, some are stay-at-home mothers or fathers, some are senators, some are policemen, some are generals, some are writers, some are priests, some are pastors, some are movie stars, some are billionaires, some are homeless, some are insurance salesmen. We are everywhere. And we don't all think alike. More than that, though we may get heated in our disagreements as with any group under constant attack, we respect the fundamental right of each other to disagree. You seem to think that there is some hidden weakness that commenters should disagree. In fact it's a strength. And I'd be very careful, if I were you, to point to comments on any other site to draw conclusions from them. The comments I see here from those I assume are your supporters are often disgusting in the violence of their hatred. Unfortunately, I see very few here who disagree with them.

Bob, the Jews do use the Holocaust as a propaganda tool. When pro-illegal immigration activists said that the Arizona immigration law was like the Holocaust, where Jews were rounded up and put on cattle cars, some Jewish mouthpiece groups screamed about the comparison and said it wasn't a Holocaust.

Explain why the Southern Poverty Law Center, who drums up fake hate groups but to their credit has started to point out Black nationalism groups that are bad as Neo-Nazis, and the ADL making so much money out of fear and scaremongering?

Bob, now you call me an anti-semite. Great. Elena "Fiona46" Kagan called me a racist and anti-semite in the same sentence. Explain where you draw the conclusion of me being an anti-Semite from my observation or are you trying to shut me down, like the conservatives do, by questioning someone's patriotism?

It's funny how you and the conservatives use the same tactic to condemn people.

Certainly there are elements within the LGBT community that go too far in their attempts to ensure equality for all of us, just as there are elements within the NOM community that would state that we should be rounded up, imprisoned, or executed.

I am a little confused as to how Catholics, mormons and Jews got mixed up in all of this (comments on the ARTICLE), but we should get back to the point. I agree that no matter what your issue is there will always be people in a group who go too far and only end up making the bigger, more reserved or mature (however you want to look at it) part of the group look bad. For example, not all of us pro-lifers feel that blowing up an abortion clinic stregnthens our arguement about the sanctity of life, and not all of us who support NOM think that gay people aren't worth the skin they're made of just as I suspect not all gay people hate NOM supporters. It's so silly. I want to point out to those who toss out Bible verses that, although I think it's great your are unashamed of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is not effective if it is preceded or followed by words of degradation or hate. It is yet another example of a small portion of a group making the whole group look bad. It doesn't make people of a different mindset want to listen or consider what you're trying to say (even if it's the truth) it only succeeds in cementing their thoughts that all Christians are hypocrites. Yes, God speaks clearly on the issue of homosexuality in the Bible as He does with other issues like stealing, lying,how to act towards each other, taxes, etc. Gay people are people and they are no more or less important to the God who created them than you or I. We should be more concerned with letting them know Jesus (that includes showing by our actions) and His love for them and make that the priority. It is not up to us to change them anymore than it is up to us to change people who are dealing with other issues. We should be praying for their souls like we pray for the souls of our friends and relatives. Only God can change people, that's His job, not ours. Our job (as stated in Matthew 19:19) is to "love your neighbor as yourself" and according to Jesus in Luke 10:30-37 in the Parable of the Good Samaritan our neighbors are everyone to whom we can show the love of God...EVERYONE. Just to clarify, I do not agree or support the homosexual lifestyle by any means, but I believe that God gave us the great commission for everyone and it is not our job to decide who is worthy and who is not to be treated with the love of God.

I hope you continue to read what our community has to say. I think that you might find within it wisdom, character, principle, and a desire to live in a world that has greater freedom, equality, kindness, and decency.

Perhaps some day you might consider whether this might be a world that you would enjoy as well, and will shift towards promoting equality and fairness rather than opposing it.

Timothy Kincaidwww.boxturtlebulletin.com

ps. You said something interesting above: "There are rights and protections same-sex couples ought to have - fair and equal treatement..."

You do know, don't you, that the National Organization for Marriage officially opposes civil unions, domestic partnerships, or any other couple recognition. It is NOM's stance that same-sex couples should never ever be recognized on any level and that any rights that gay people have should be restricted only to individual concessions and provided only with the presumption that they are single strangers with no greater bond than neighbors, siblings, or bowling buddies.

Guess what, Louis? You know what it's called when you take the actions of individuals of a movement and apply them to everyone - or believe that characteristics of individuals in a group archetype the whole? That's called a stereotype. That's called profiling.

As Steve pointed out, we're not one monolith. We consist of all peoples of all different varieties. Some groups disagree with others. Some groups won't act in ways that others will, but you're kidding yourself if you feel the counter rally in Providence was a shrinking exception or if your point is legitimized in observing or screenshotting pacifists like Tim at BTB and Garden State Equality.

Here's some information, Louis:This is, at its core, a civil rights movement. You are using the exact language, the precise tools, and the identical message used against minorities in the past. You excrete arrogance and elitism as though you own the world. This is how you are perceived by us.

You spend your days doing what is destructive to us and our relationships. You paint stories of our greatest loves - our innate capacity to love as "lifestyle choices", "agendas", "counter-cultural", or "choice". Do you not see the kind of harm this creates?

You spread lies about us and use our relationships as pawns to promote what men like you have often always promoted - elitism and a first-class sense of entitlement. In a civil rights movement this will only lead to one thing. Long term oppression of a group of people who are innately different only leads to one thing: widespread civil disobedience.

So Louis, you bet we're angry. You're kidding yourself in believing the palpable anger you encountered in Providence is indicative of the fringe. It is not.

You sit there spinning your lies and turning the spotlight to present yourself in a better way. You portend deterioration of the fabric of society and portray yourself a proverbial lamb who cries wolf.

Society and history will tell the truth - it always does. People will begin to realize that you are nothing but a bully - a wolf in sheep's clothing who drinks the blood that is the harm and devastation you inspire against our families because they are different from yours. Your hunger seems only satisfied in being able to present yourself as being martyred by oppressors you have made up.

Worst of all, Louis - in all of this you have forgotten that you are not talking about "an agenda", "a lifestyle", or a movement. After all of your blog posts are written and all of your lies are spun, you have lost sight of the fact that we are real people whose only fault is being born in a place and a time where our capacity for love and our relationships are considered undeserving.

So you bet your bottom we're angry. You can anticipate being faced with more anger in the streets and screams in your face telling you one thing. Stop hurting us, Louis. Please. Stop hurting us.

Klr said "I agree that no matter what your issue is there will always be people in a group who go too far and only end up making the bigger, more reserved or mature (however you want to look at it) part of the group look bad."

This isn't about making more "reserved or mature" people looking bad...

This is about a very rational response to perpetual harm committed against us by our fellow citizens, the lies told about us, the devastation caused to the people we love. This has been occurring in the spotlight for decades and, although there are people who don't understand, civil disobedience such as that in Providence is absolutely expected.

Klr, it is a lie like "EVERYONE. Just to clarify, I do not agree or support the homosexual lifestyle by any means" that perpetuates hostility towards us. There is no homosexual lifestyle. Repeat: there is NO definitive 'homosexual lifestyle'. Saying that you do not support me (especially for your own religious reasons) is akin to saying you neither respect or believe that the love I share with my man is insignificant.

Please please please stop using your religious beliefs to justify or dismiss harm being done to us, especially when the intent of such is to "let us know Jesus and His love". Is promoting your religion and assimilating us into your flock so important as to rationalize causing us harm? I do hope you seriously reflect on that question.

<<"So you bet your bottom we're angry. You can anticipate being faced with more anger in the streets and screams in your face telling you one thing. Stop hurting us, Louis. Please. Stop hurting us.">>

Well said. What NOM is aiming for is a form of majoritarian oppression, and most in the gay community do (quite appropriately) view its efforts as corrupt and ignorant.

Though I personally don't approve of the manner in which a few of the Providence counter-protesters conducted themselves, I must admit that I understand completely why they are so passionately enraged. And just as not all African-American civil rights protesters in the Sixties were "peaceful" and "non-violent" (the Black Panther movement comes to mind), not all members of the gay community will be able to simply sit back and hold signs. It's not that they're doing themselves any favors by shouting and ranting in Brian's face, but their attitudes are largely to be expected.

It's not the NOM crowd whose rights are under fire, despite their frantic attempts to "play the victim." It's the gay community's. There's a reason why one side is a bit more evidently outraged than the other. And considering the fact that the vast majority of LGBT protesters have not been "militant" at all is quite a testament to their integrity. If MY rights were threatened, I would, admittedly, be raising hell in the streets.

Ultimately, then, one must ask: if Louis, Maggie, Brian & Co. were denied THEIR marriage rights, would they be any less infuriated than the LGBT community? The answer, methinks - in light of their own radical viewpoints - is quite obvious.

You're good friends with Brian Brown. You were in Annapolis today. Why did you have the Courage Campaign's videographer removed by the police?

He was not participating in a counter rally. He had no signs. He was not chanting. There was no confrontation or interruption.

This person was acting as a reporter, as the press. You are in a public space. Why would you violate this person's rights? Does everyone observing your rally have to agree with you? Do you get a joy at shutting out the press? Do you believe yourself entitled to public spaces as to have arrested those sharing them with you?

You cried wolf when it came to being screamed at, claiming your freedom of speech protected you from being rebuked and ridiculed and challenged...

Then you go ahead and make the HUGE mistake of removing a person acting as the press? How many constitutional/civil rights did you just stomp out by having him removed? For what reason?

Were you afraid he would report the truth about your tone, your words, and the fact that you could barely break 25 attendees (counting yourself AND staff)?

Please, Louis, provide me an answer. And to those who support Louis, please note that you're supporting people who are actively seeking to stifle civil freedoms as BASIC as being able to sit in a park with a video camera and tape a rally - despite whether or not you believe in what is being presented.

I've been looking for a recap of the NOM stop in Trenton and can't find any, instead I see this ongoing "discussion" of the Providence stop. Why no press on NJ? Oh right, there were an embarrassingly low number of NOM supporters, and the press was all with the large crowd of Pro-Marriage Equality folk and their families and children. So, this post is an attempt to distract from that? Surely you must have SOMETHING to say abbout the NJ stop? Nothing? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?

Today in Annapolis, Brian Brown and a Maryland police officer threatened to arrest a reporter for videotaping the rally, an action which in itself is unconstitutional, and holds no legal justification, http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/computer-security/taking-photos-in-public-places-is-not-a-crime

Furthermore, what sort of message does that send that NOM is afraid for the larger public to hear their speeches, and see how little their turnouts for the rallies are? (There was literally maybe 20 NOM supporters present today...including Brian Brown, Louis, and Bishop Jackson.)

I'm neither profane nor a troll FB, unlike you who are both plus an idiotic sexist jackass. And Fiona64 has been banned from posting to Louis' blog of lies and distortions. Most likely because unlike you she made perfect logical sense and backed everything up with irrefutable facts. Also likely because she did so AS a proud Catholic who WASN'T blindly siding with the Hate Patrol. You FB, remain a giggliung trollish imbecile, and will always be so, and anyone who reads your middling bile sees such.

Sooner or later Louis will ban me from posting too, once he realizes that I am in fact successfully using simple honestly and inarguable facts to make HIM expose his hatemongering deceitful bigotry on his own. Anyone can SAY "Person X is a hateful bigot who lies through his teeth", but if you can use the Truth to piss a hater off so much that his own words end up being basically a public acknowledgement of his own bigotry, well, that's a LOT harder to weasel out of. Kinda like how now that everyone's seen you FB publicly try to bribe me into shutting up, your own words have condemned you as everyone now knows you're a sleazebag who has basically admitted that I'm in the right by trying to silence me so publicly. If I wasn't right, you wouldn't need to be so desperate to shut me up.

Louis, you and I both know this blog entry fails in it's attempt to paint "t3h GAYZ" as squabbling infighting militants. All your screencaps have done is prove that we're NOT all some big agenda driven group out to get you but are in fact *GASP!!!* Normal human beings who disagree just like everyone else! Your failure to tell a good lie once again backfires on you.

If you want a chance to prove you're not a hypocrite and a coward Lou, WITHOUT having to grow the balls to answer my questions, you can start by unbanning Fiona64. She has as much right to comment as anyone else, and has been FAR more polite than any of your supporters, FB being a prime example.

No new news? Perhaps NOM wants to keep quiet the fact that they threatened a reporter with arrest and called a police officer in to have them escorted to the location of the counter-rally that he wasn't participating in...

Brian Brown: "You have no right to be here." I believe those were his words to counter-protesters in Providence before he, himself, was threatened with arrest. Convenience how Louis forgets that fact.

Check out the marriage equality blogs for some raw footage, videos of Brian's interview with Courage Campaign where he is REALLY enjoying himself (not sure how someone can enjoy themselves while protecting something they really, really believe in - or through earning a paycheck in causing other people harm), a pastor lost in irrationality, praying in tongues, and rebuking LGBT men and women in the name of Jesus, and a response from the man in the blue shirt who "rushed the 'stage' and was 'screaming' at Brian... who was more than welcome to return the shouting match for a good 20 minutes himself.

Again, Louis, the freedom of speech guarantees the freedom to express your opinion. It doesn't protect you from the consequences and anger that arises from the fact that your beliefs/opinion cause very real harm to millions of couples and families in America simply because they don't fit into your subjective, narrow worldview.

Have a good rest of your trip. Don't run out of gas in Deliverance Country.

Louis, please share this with Maggie and Brian. We know you were the front for Prop 8. We know the lies you told. We see the hateful comments on your Facebook page. We know you block anyone who has the slightest difference in opinion within minutes. You silence us. Your Facebook members describe homosexuals as deviants and pedophiles. You now have a discussion going about boycotting companies that give rights to gays and lesbians. More so Louis and Brian, you have said that you invite discourse but you have people taken away by the police who have done nothing.

If you believe your own words, then let us on your Facebook page to engage in civilized discourse. Because I can give you factual information, real research that refutes half of what you put there. Not to mention, the answers provided by PM: OM, OW are flat out lies. And please - have your FB members stop asking questions like "Why do gay people...." and then you do not let us answer.

Please tell me when NOM and One man one woman will stop telling lies about the Providence rally? They were beans in the bottle used for noise making. They weren't rocks and if they were rocks they stayed in the bottle so why keep mentioning it? But again they were kidney beans not very scary! Also it's worth noting we had a permit to counter-protest this event. Just like you had the right to be there we had the right to protest you. No one is fighting about this in fact it has made our community much stronger. Also, Marriage Equality RI was not there. Queer Action of RI and Queer Rising of NYC were there. As for an apology you will not receive one due to nothing happening. In fact Gay Leaders of Providence call on NOM and One Man One woman to apologize for the lies they are spewing about the protesters in Providence.

When the conversation of groups like NOM shift to finding that middle ground, finding a way to reach equality, and bestowing the same rights found within marriage that even you admit are denied to same-sex couples then we will all be better off.

Problem is, groups like NOM don't think gays and lesbians have the right to participate in civil discourse because, wait for it... because nothing about homosexuality is civil nor deserving of public acceptance.